Moor Hall Spa Day Review

After successfully navigating last year’s spa day at The Club and Spa Birmingham my friends decided that a good way of kicking off my impending “zero-ending” birthday celebrations would be to let me loose once more in a steam-filled environment where I could reprise my best Mr Magoo impression.

via Giphy.com

Thanks to the wonder that is discount voucher sites, we picked up a day spa voucher with one treatment at Moor Hall Hotel and Spa in Sutton Coldfield. I like hotels which have a nice long drive; and Moor Hall doesn’t disappoint, weaving its way through parkland and a golf course before pulling up to this four star country house hotel. I neatly slot my way into one of the few remaining spaces in the car park and go in search of Friend No 1 and Chief Organiser of this day. When I eventually find the Spa Reception (after a slight detour around the hotel, ending up at the door right next to my car), they advise that Friend No 1 and Chief Organiser is “waiting for us in the bar”. WHAT? IT’S BARELY 10am! However “in the bar” turns out to mean seated in the lounge-panelled lounge bar, awaiting our welcome tea and coffee. Friend No 1, Friend No 2 and I have a good old-fashioned chinwag before deciding we should probably “get our spa on”.

We’re given a whistlestop tour of the facilities. It’s a bit of a maze and seems bigger than it actually is but we’re soon entrusted with towels, robes and the code to the changing room door. We have this code lark cracked and we’re soon shrugging off our daytime clothes and into our swimming cozzies. Just for info, the lockers currently don’t take the new pound coins, but they can be exchanged for a token at the spa reception. I’m pleased to see that its a proper pool, if a bit small, where you can actually swim if you’re so inclined. I am inclined for a short while, then discover that Friend No 1 has scared the existing occupants out of the jacuzzi so the three of us continue our gossip whilst surrounded by bubbles.

There’s a sauna and a steam room; I keep my steaming to a minimum due to the ridiculous hair situation but Friends No 1 and 2 seem to enjoy it. We were lucky to find three loungers together (well four until I accidentally broke one…sorry Moor Hall!) but there did seem a bit of a shortage of furniture, particularly on the afternoon when the pool area was a little busier. There’s a lovely outlook from the pool area though, looking out over the manicured lawn and I can imagine it being quite cosy in the winter when the nights draw in early.

The morning passed quickly – as it does when you’re pruning in a jacuzzi – and it’s soon the allotted time for our treatments. Friends No 1 and 2 opt for massages whilst I decide that my tootsies need a little love and go for the nourishing foot treatment. I’m a little apprehensive about this. Am I going to be all ticklish and giggle till I pee? Or will my automatic reflex action kick in and I’ll end up booting my therapist in the face? Neither as it turns out. In fact, it’s the most divine experience. The poor therapist does have to return with a bigger pumice stone, and has to face the weirdness of my missing little toe nails, but she kindly reassures me that she has seen worse. I leave with the smoothest feet and ankles that I’ve ever had.

We all reconvene in the spa lounge and its time to go for lunch. We’re shepherded by the spa staff back to the lounge bar, running the gauntlet of those fully-clothed guests on the way and we’re hidden away in a corner. We’ve all opted for a sandwich and chips option, and we’re impressed by the size of the plates that come out. My sandwich is overflowing with pastrami, and the accompanying pickles are a delight. Not for Moor Hall a pitiful rabbit food offering, which we’re all happy about. And we each get change from a tenner.

The laziness continues into the afternoon, with a sequence of steam room to sauna to jacuzzi to lounger. We have access until the spa closes at 5:30, but we finally managed to drag ourselves out of this indolence and pull some clothes on before saying our farewells to the Moor Hall and to each other.

I can find little fault with our Spa Day at Moor Hall; we were lucky that it wasn’t too busy as the pool may have struggled if it had been busier but otherwise the facilities exceeded expectations. Some of the towels were a little grubby but reception were happy to exchange these from the freshly laundered pile. All of the public areas were clean and well maintained, both in the spa and in the hotel itself. Each member of staff we encountered were friendly and professional. Definitely worth a return visit!